What is the biggest struggle you are having right now in your organization? Could your idea or discovery change the future of your industry? Chances are people are at the heart of your concern, or I should say the avoidance of people.
Imagine seeing your naysayers as a contribution to your cause and not the problem behind it?
In this 12 minute TED talk Margaret Heffernan discusses why it’s important to discuss ideas and not always a bad thing to talk with people who disagree with you. Learning a new perspective could make your obvious argument extraordinary.
“The truth won’t set us free until we develop the skills, the habits and moral courage to use it”
My Takeaways:
- The openness of information alone cannot drive change.
- Have someone on your team who compliments your strengths & weaknesses.
- Engage with people who have different thinking, different experiences & different backgrounds than your own.
- Dare to break the silence of your concerns and enable the people around you to do their best thinking.
- Always be prepared to change your mind.
“How do organizations think? For the most part, they don’t. People inside of them are too afraid of conflict. A survey of European companies & american executive, 85 % of them acknowledged that they had issues or concerns at work they were afraid to raise, afraid of the conflict that it would provoke, afraid to get embroiled in arguments that they did not know how to manage and felt that they were bound to lose.” ~ Margaret Heffernan
According to TED: “Most people instinctively avoid conflict, but as Margaret Heffernan shows us, good disagreement is central to progress. She illustrates (sometimes counterintuitively) how the best partners aren’t echo chambers — and how great research teams, relationships and businesses allow people to deeply disagree.”
What did you take away from this talk? Comment below, maybe you’ll disagree 😉.
Robbie MacCue
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